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FC Dallas falls 2-0 to Portland Timbers FC in regular season finale

October 26, 2014 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas (16-12-6, 54 points) dropped a 2-0 decision to Portland Timbers FC tonight in front of 17,231 fans at Toyota Stadium.

Darlington Nagbe and Maximilliano Urruti scored for Timbers FC, ending a franchise-record eight-game winning streak at Toyota Stadium for FC Dallas.

FC Dallas now hosts Vancouver at 8 p.m. this Wednesday, Oct. 29, in 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs presented by AT&T at Toyota Stadium.

Portland needed a win against Dallas tonight to be eligible for the postseason and it was apparent early in the match. FC Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz was called into action twice inside the first 13 minutes of the match. The University of Maryland product answered with two well-timed diving saves to his left side that came less than a minute apart. The first was on Diego Valeri and the second, almost identical save, was on Nagbe.

Valeri had a second chance to give the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute curl just wide of the right post after making a quick move to his right near the top of the box and shooting back across his body towards the opposite post.

FC Dallas' best chance of the half came in the 38th minute, when right back Je-Vaughn Watson received the ball near the touch line and delivered a perfect cross in to the head of forward David Texeira. The Uruguayan snapped a header on goal but Timbers FC goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts made an outstanding diving save to his left side to send the ball out for an FC Dallas corner kick.

Portland took a 1-0 lead just before halftime when Nagbe took what looked to be an innocent shot from just outside the area. FC Dallas defender Zach Loyd stepped up to block the attempt but instead had the ball deflect off the inside of his right leg, back off the ground, and carom into the back of the next. Seitz was unable to make a play on the ball due to the deflection, which hopped the opposite way as the initial shot.

FC Dallas had not one, but two goals called back between the 63rd and 66th minutes. The first was called back after referee Jair Marrufo ruled that Fabian Castillo intentionally used his hand to redirect the ball into the back of the net on a free kick. Dallas appeared to have scored again in the 66th minute when Castillo tip-toed the end line before sending a cross into the area that was headed past Ricketts by Blas Perez. But once again Marrufo stepped in and ordered a corner kick for Dallas rather than a goal, judging that defender Jorge Villafana pushed the ball over the end line before Castillo crossed it into the area.

Portland grabbed a two-goal lead in the 82nd minute when Gaston Fernandez snuck a through ball inside the area to fellow substitute Urruti at the top of the area. The Argentinean forward cut to the outside before hammering a shot into the back of the net to seal the victory, 2-0, and end Dallas' franchise record eight-game winning streak at Toyota Stadium.

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